Saltburn production designer reveals what Barry Keoghan was actually drinking in bathtub scene

Saltburn has been on everyone’s mind since it’s release, and especially that one bathtub scene. But did you know that what production went through to make the scene realistic?

Emerald Fennell’s second film after 2020s Promising Young Women has been hailed as a masterpiece by viewers.

The cinematography, creative freedom on set and strategic nudity is something that you won’t find in many projects.

However, there was one scene in particular which had tongues wagging and jaws wide open.

When Barry Keoghan was seen slurping up some questionable ‘bath water’ mix, it was a shocking moment to say the least.

The story focuses on a student (Oliver) at Oxford University who becomes entangled with a charming and aristocratic classmate (Jacob Elordi’s Felix), who invites him to his family's estate for a summer.

Warner Bros.

Oliver’s room was adjacent to Felix’s own via a shared Jack-and-Jill bathroom, which created an opportunity for the uni student to peek at his friend.

In this particular scene, Felix had been…self-pleasuring in the bathtub before hopping out and pulling the plug to let the water drain.

However, Oliver’s growing obsession with his friend led him to quickly run up and gulp up the remnants of his ‘stuff’, before it could fully disappear.

For those who have watched it, the water looks pretty realistic.

If you haven’t seen it yet, search up the infamous TikTok cocktail recipe inspired by the moment, or Etsy candle and you’ll get a pretty good idea.

TikTok/ Janellerohner

If you’re wondering how the production designer was able to create a mix that looked like Felix’s cocktail… thankfully Suzie Davies spilled all.

Speaking to Business Insider, she shared that it was a process to find everything to make the scene look as it was described in the script.

When it came to what Keoghan was drinking though, Davies standby prop team had just the thing. The mixture was a totally edible mix of ‘yogurt and a bit of milk and some water’.

Lovely.

Davies explained the behind-the-scenes moment: "He did it four times and really went for it. Every one he did was a different kind of slurp."

It seems that creating the mix was a lot easier than finding a bathtub that would support Elordi's frame and be in keeping with the script.

Pixabay

Davies said: "The bathroom was described along with the whole walkthrough scene when Felix walks through showing Oliver the house.

"The script described that the boys' bedrooms were along a run of rooms, so there was Felix's room, then a bathroom, and what was the dressing room, but they turned it into a bedroom for Oliver."

As they couldn’t initially find a bathroom or a bath which would fit the scene or Elordi’s 6ft5 frame, they had to improvise by creating it themselves out of a spare bedroom and a tub from the junkyard.

She said: "I would get the person who came with me to lay into the tub, to get an idea if Jacob could fit in it.

"Then we were trying to work out how to do the shot. The slurping shot. We were trying to figure out how to chop off sections of the tub for the camera angle."

In the end, they had to create their own tub due to weight restrictions and recreated a cast-iron tub out of fiberglass.

She explained: "In fact, we made a couple of bathtubs.

"With one, we chopped a hole in the side for the close-up shot of Barry slurping up the water."

The more you know.